William Hearst

Name: William M. Hearst

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: 12

School: Bayview Secondary School

Hobbies and Interests: Backpacking, Camping, Hiking, Gardening.

Appearance: William's lithe and trim form stands at an easy 5'7", a fact that he is quite proud of due to being the tallest member in his immediate family. Weighing in at 150lbs, it wouldn't be out of the question to describe him as having a somewhat light frame. Muscle mass isn't something William ever truly concerned himself with, but he didn't neglect athletic studies completely, so he is at least able to keep up with his family and friends in terms of being able to lift various amounts of weight, peaking at about 50lbs lifted with his right arm. Due to his disability, William heavily favors his right arm, making it slightly awkward when it is easy to tell that his right arm is far stronger than his left, with more noticeable muscle tone whereas his left has almost none, making for a somewhat asymmetric build.

William's hair is somewhat short, and if anyone truly pays attention, it appears that he does almost nothing to properly care for it aside from wash it. The sides are kept trim and short, under half an inch at length at the most, whereas the top is allowed to grow out more in a typical, traditional short hair cut for men. Kept trimmed at about an inch and a half to two inches, William keeps his hair combed back as well as he can but it will almost never hold without gel or other styling products, resulting in a partial part in most cases. Brown ochre in color, William gets his hair from his father, much like he does for most parts of his physical appearance.

William's heavily calloused hands are almost always dirty in some way, whether they are completely covered in dirt or at times only have dirt under the finger nails, in some way his hands always show signs that he was digging around in his garden or elsewhere, either planting more flowers or gathering some. Vanity certainly isn't something that William concerns himself with too often when it comes to skin care, all but completely neglecting to properly care for his light copper colored skin. He does what he can to stave off acne, certainly, but outside of that there is little that he has done, resulting in rather dry and rough skin.

William is a fairly unremarkable young man when it comes to his face. A pair of wide, thin, blue-gray eyes beneath a high brow, and a short, narrow nose above a set of thin lips. He lacks any facial hair, usually shaving it off before it can grow beyond the level of stubble and having a noticeably slower rate of growth than most other young men. He has his father's strong jaw line, brow and eyes, but he gets his nose from his mother.

William's fashion sense appears to have been heavily influenced by his grandfather and his father with most of his wardrobe consisting of 'professional' attire; that is, pristine white button down shirts, hand-me-down suit jackets and slacks, and a number of more casual outfits consisting of tan or black khakis paired with a button down shirt. On the more casual end of the spectrum regarding outfits, William owns a several pairs of jeans that show major signs of wear, coupled with solid color T-shirts that often have more than a few holes in them. He seems to heavily favor the professional attire, wearing it to school and using it when conducting business of any kind.

Biography: The only child of Andrew Hearst, a self employed mason, and his wife of five years, Samantha Hearst née Roberts, a gardener and daughter of a farming family who regularly sold home grown produce, William was born August 23rd, 1990, in Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Born two weeks earlier than expected, the birth was otherwise unremarkable and devoid of any major complications.

As his early years were heavily influenced by his mother and maternal grandmother, William was slowly being coaxed out of his shell as he grew up, normally keeping to himself instead of joining other children, and often remaining quiet where other children would scream and shout; Indeed, William preferred, from a young age, to keep to himself and pay far more attention to the flowers in the garden than the other children. As a result of his rather close relationship with his mother, William never did build much of a father son kinship, often opting to spend more time with his garden or his mother than he did with his father; this went on for quite a few years before his father took it upon himself to include William in his daily activities. Hoping to turn the young William away from flowers and gardens and towards the brick and mortar that he worked with, Andrew would often take William with him on jobs, encouraging the relatively young William to help out. This backfired one afternoon, however; during work on a job that required the use of relatively large concrete blocks, one of the blocks came loose and slid from where it had been set down, falling upon and crushing William's left arm. This accident, complicated due to the odd angle it had fallen at and how William's arm broke, caused serious injuries to the arm; severe fractures to all three of the major bones and extensive nerve, tendon and joint damage. Despite medical attention and physical therapy attempts, the damage had been done and William would never quite reclaim full use of his left arm.

On the subject of academia, William has always been a bright child; A penchant from an early age for memorizing facts and figures, a keen mind when it came to mathematics and an apparent ability to soak up the information from history books led to him striking ahead early on in his school career, and served as a wonderful outlet for his time. Attending school at the St. Francis de Sales Primary school, William avoided socializing much, burying himself in his studies in the absence of his garden, leaving him lacking in friends until he took the opportunity to find out why someone hadn't joined the other students, someone else who had stuck themselves in some corner with a book while the rest of the children ran off to spend their time on something more entertaining. This child that William took an interest in was a one Alex P. White, and is among one of the few consistent friends that William would manage to keep through his life; They had initially entered into an agreement under which William would offer Alex help with his studies, helping him to understand difficult subjects and in return, Alex would help William make friends, something William noticed Alex had no trouble doing. Of course, Alex did more than simply help William make more friends; Indeed, Alex was the very reason that William took interest in activities such as camping, hiking and backpacking.

William spent a large majority of his free time on these new hobbies, often enjoying them with Alex at his side or, when he couldn't go with Alex, he would spend this time with his father, slowly bridging the gap that had formed over time between the two; Many weekends were spent in state parks, camping out in the great outdoors for two or three days at a time with William often gathering clippings of plants that would catch his ever vigilant eye, adding not only to William's enjoyment of the outdoors but also to his ever growing garden. These weekly outings with his father or with Alex seemed to have an effect on William, often imparting a new sense of self-confidence in the young William that, while not lasting long, certainly helped him in socializing, giving him the courage to speak up and participate when Alex broke the ice for him. With his social life steadily growing, William began to contemplate his as-of-then non-existent love life, something he compared to his peers and appeared to be lacking in. Taking an interest in his fellow students, William found himself more and more attracted to Alex, as well as a few of the other male students in his classes, along with a few choice female students; This may have stuck William as odd if his views on sexuality were ever skewed by religious teachings or social norms, but neither were often present in William's life to have much effect. After confessing his attraction to Alex, the two began a homosexual relationship that lasted for the better part of a year before they concluded that, even thought the relationship had been a good one, they felt that they would be more comfortable as friends as time went on.

Back at home, William's life remained mostly the same as it always had as he passed through school; His relationship with his mother and maternal grandmother was still very strong, and even his relationship with his father was improving as time went by. Things took a turn for the worst, however, when William's father suffered a rather debilitating stroke at the age of 43; the cause of which seemed to stem from a relatively minor series of injuries suffered years before. This of course meant that he could not continue working and, as a self-employed mason with no permanent ties to any single company, it would leave the family with almost no regular income, as neither William's mother nor William himself worked at the time. While his mother frantically searched for work, William was not so lucky; being effectively crippled with his left arm, lacking a full high school education and still being a student, having no access to a car of his own and not having his driver's license left William with little choice when it came to finding a job. Coupled with the competitive job market for entry level positions around a public high school and a mall that served as a popular spot for teenagers to congregate, it left William wanting for a means to supplement the family income. During a discussion with a group of friends, however, the suggestion to grow Marijuana came about as a half-hearted joke; William, however, took it quite serious as he knew it was something he could do. Growing it would be relatively simple for him, as he already had most of the equipment he would need, as well as already having a space in which he could grow the plants; Not only that, but he also had the knowledge to properly cultivate the plants, to make clones and breed them in order to specialize a strain and distribute a unique product. It was then that William, seeing no other choice and knowing that their savings wouldn't hold out for very long, decided to proceed with growing marijuana; After all, he knew quite a few students in the school that smoked the stuff and knew, just as others did, that the mall was a prime place to find stoners and the like.

Initially just a very small operation, William realized that attempting to grow enough marijuana to sell without using more resources than he normally used for hydroponics cultivation would barely net him enough money to break even, let alone supplement the family income long enough for his mother and himself to locate new jobs. Resolving to fix this, William struck out to make contacts among the dealers that his customers at Bayview and the local mall usually purchased from in the hopes of making a deal for himself, a better business opportunity and a better chance at making enough money to help support his family. William managed to secure himself a deal with his new contacts: He would help distribute their product to his customers and in return, he would get access to uncommon cultivars to grow in place of more common low-grade cultivars, allowing him make more money off of his own product, which they in turn helped distribute. With this arrangement, William believed he would be able to make more money.

William carried this operation on for quite some time, thankful that his parents spent little time around the house and paid little attention to what he did during that time. His father spent most of his time in physical therapy and doing what little work he could for clients, helping them find new contractors to do the work they needed now that he was incapable of doing it himself. William's mother, on the other hand, was forcing herself to work whatever poor paying jobs she could manage as well as any odd jobs around the neighborhood that she could find and handle; the stress of which slowly built over time, often becoming too much to handle alone under the burden of supporting the family and making sure they wouldn't drain their savings. It came to a head when, during a particularly bad week, she inadvertently let her work slip too much and inevitably lost her job, leaving her no other choice but to return him far earlier than William expected. She discovered his operation during this time, but seeing this as a desperate time that called for a desperate measure, she did not take disciplinary action and actually assisted in the operation.

Knowing that continuing to grow the plants out of the family home was an increasingly bad idea, William's mother helped him move much of his equipment, his plants and his supplies to a new location roughly eighty miles outside of St. Paul; a relatively safe, wooded area near a small river, situated on four acres of private property owned by William's great aunt. It wasn't uncommon for them to use and care for the house while his great aunt was out of the state or out of the country, being an avid traveler after the unfortunate Alzheimer's related death of her husband of fifteen years. Using the then-empty house as a base, William and his mother cultivated and managed to grow a sizable crop, both indoors and out, within a relatively short period of time. With his mothers help and utilizing the contacts he had made, William managed to make enough money for the family to avoid losing their savings and their home, while his mother managed to locate a new job.

This went on for roughly eight to ten months, with income from short term temp jobs being supplemented by William's activities around the city. Knowing that it would only be a matter of time before things went south, William and his mother grabbed at every opportunity that was presented in order to hopefully return to a normal life; one such opportunity came about roughly three months before the beginning of senior year when his maternal uncle, one Jonathan Andrew Roberts, lost his house to foreclosure. William's mother saw the unfortunate event as an opportunity and invited her brother to live with the family in the spare bedroom; this, of course, came with a catch. It was hoped, and indeed expected, that Jonathan would work for his brother-in-law Andrew so they could finally get back to work with a reasonable income. Even knowing that this was expected of him, and perhaps even required for him to stay with them, Jonathan took the offer and indeed began working for Andrew, quickly picking up the trade and managing to get them back to work sooner than expecting. This, coupled with Andrew improving rapidly in physical therapy, led to the family finally get back to a normal routine and finally returning to their normal, everyday lives.

With the burden of supporting the family no longer on the shoulders of William and his mother, and the need to continue their operation no longer present, they began to sell off what remained of their crop and shut down the operation, putting the equipment into storage should they need to use it again, hoping that they never would. William managed to work his way out of the business arrangement with his contacts on good terms, even providing them with what remained of the immature crop, in order to avoid getting enemies and keep them on good terms should he ever need to restart his unfortunate business. With plenty of free time, a large amount of new life experience and, surprisingly enough, a healthy dose of new-found self confidence, William looked forward to the beginning of senior year. He felt stronger despite no physical change, and felt that he could take the coming school year with new found determination and hopefully come out of it a better man, as he believed he had done over the past several months. However, what he had done never quite left his mind and he could never really go back to the way things were before, knowing how far he was willing to go to protect what he held dear.

As William entered his senior year, he felt secure in the belief that things were returning to normal. He returned to his normal routine after a significant absence, and returned to actually enjoying the time he spent in the outdoors instead of using it as an escape. The stress of his home life, the nature of his business and his lack of focus had taken their toll, however, and he realized this when his grades began to slip. Where once there had been straight As, William was now getting Bs and Cs; Unsatisfied with average, however, William sunk a significant amount of time into studying in order to pull his average back to at least to an A- or B+ average, which he managed to do over time. Despite his new found self confidence, William failed to really strike out and gain much popularity among much of the student body as he had hoped, but he was content with what friends he did make and was certainly glad that he made these friends through means other than his unfortunate business. He even tried to turn his new found friends unto his beloved hobbies, and attempted to introduce them to the great outdoors in new ways, attempting to get them to come along when he went backpacking, when he went camping or hiking, or even when he went out to find new plants to add to his growing garden.

Advantages: William's intimate knowledge of plant-life and their effects could prove to be a very useful skill in an environment where the local fauna is both wide and varied, but is hindered by his lack of knowledge in properly utilizing those effects outside of the most basic uses; Indeed, William's specialization seems to have been in edible plants or ways to make normally inedible or unappetizing plant life into a vegetarian dream. An increasingly outgoing personality, new found self confidence and recent attempts to make friends among his fellow students on his own may prove to be an interesting asset. Previous long-term experience with hiking and camping may lend William an interesting skill set, with a pre-existing tolerance for long distance travel and rough terrain proving useless in any environment. A small, yet close-knit group of friends and strong emotional attachment to another student could be a very useful advantage for William should he manage to stay with them; likewise, previous experience with selling a portion of the student body their cannabis and the skills he learned from that practice may also prove useful.

Disadvantages: As a result of a childhood accident, William's left arm is significantly weaker than his right one; Damage to the muscles, the joints, the tendons and the nerves have left it relatively useless outside of the most basic activities, and significantly weakened his grip strength. A significant lacking in knowledge when it comes to the subject of herbalism; that is, utilizing plant life and plant extracts in beneficial methods befitting the description of medicine; leaves William at a disadvantage as to his usefulness when it comes to plant life. While his experience with hiking and camping may be a significant advantage, compliance with repeated activities may result in him losing focus or becoming overconfident, an act that could cost him dearly in the wrong situation. While William has increasingly become more self-confident and has been attempting to make more friends among his peers, he is also inexperienced and not exactly popular, having relied upon Alex to introduce him to people in the past; this could very well leave him at a loss when he is on his own, potentially causing serious problems. William is also overly trusting of his rather close knit group of friends; This is particularly noticeable in the case of Alex White, where a strong emotional attachment and complete lack of doubt in said student may result in a potentially dangerous situation, not just in the case of Alex White but also in the case of any student William may consider as a close enough friend. William appears to lack any sort of experience with fighting or combat in general, potentially leaving him to rely on others to fight for him; This situation could lead to major problems should he ever be forced to fend for himself.

Designated Number: Male student no. 061

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Designated Weapon: Kel-Tech P11 (9mm) [x5 clips (10 round capacity)]

Conclusion: B061 has a nice gun, and his dedication gives him some real potential, but a bad arm and few friends do not a winner make. He can't quite be counted out, but I'll be very surprised if he makes it too far. At least he won't have to worry about close combat, which will let him compensate at least a bit. Come on B061; give us a show!

'The above biography is as written by Dr. Nic. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Kills: Trevor Duncan

Killed By: Alex White

Collected Weapons: Kel-Tech P11 (9mm) (Assigned Weapon)

Allies: None

Enemies: None

Mid-game Evaluation:

Post-Game Evaluation:

Memorable Quotes:

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain William, in chronological order

The Past:

No threads

Pre-game:
 * Let the Dance Begin!

V4:
 * Everybody's Changing
 * Morning Comes Slowly
 * High Tides and High Hopes
 * March to your Death
 * It's Everything's Nature to Fall
 * In Theory, This Should Be Easy
 * Overdose on Adrenaline

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about William Hearst. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''
 * Will had some good moments. It was refreshing to see a kid actually affected by the death on the island, and Will was an interesting ally for Tiffany. Will also didn't laugh off his own accidental murder, at least at first. My issue was, Will goes from anger and a drive to get vengeance to this weird sort of creepy detachment without much of an intermediate step. It's especially jarring because up until this point, his character had really evolved in a natural way from events. Then, his fight with Alex was problematic for all the usual reasons involving interactions between two characters sharing one handler, especially since Will had had a stronger game up to that point, I feel. I actually kind of wish Will had walked away from the fight, because even for the issues regarding his motivation, he just had more grounding. Actually, come to think of it, I'm gonna put a lot of that down to his having actually been in pregame; it's a little thing, but Nic did a great job of bringing it in and letting it inform Will's actions in game, and I think that was in many cases the missing link with otherwise-string characters. - MurderWeasel